Knowledge base

The Joost software won't launch, or crashes, what can I do?

There are various reasons why the Joost software may crash or fail to launch, some of which are detailed below. If you can't find a solution elsewhere in this FAQ list, please visit our support forums.

Joost doesn't run on my rather powerful computer

We're constantly working to improve CPU and memory usage behaviour, but there are occasional instances where even quite powerful computers experience difficulties running the Joost software. If your computer is meets the recommended minimum system requirements and you're still having problems, the chances are that the problem lies elsewhere. Please visit the support forums, where someone may have already found a solution to your problem.

I can't get the application to run. What do I do?

We know that there are some machines out there that have problems running the Joost software. In many cases, there are workarounds for specific problems – please see the release notes section for your version of the software for details of these.

You can also take a look at our support forums, where many questions have already been answered and you'll find many other users who are willing to help you solve problems.

If you suspect you've found a bug in the Joost software, please send us a bug report and we'll try to fix the problem as fast as we can.

The Joost software crashes and I get a message saying "software conflict detected"

We're working hard to improve Joost's interaction with other applications, especially with anti-virus and firewall software. We are aware of some issues and we're working to solve them for an upcoming release, but unfortunately there's no quick fix at the moment. Currently, your best bet is to disable any software you suspect interferes with Joost when you want to watch TV.

I can't see any video! What do I do?

There are two common reasons why you may not see video – either 1) because UDP access is restricted by your broadband provider, or 2) because your firewall or router is blocking traffic to the ports used by the Joost software to stream video.

UDP access: Joost relies on UDP (User Datagram Protocol) for its video streaming and TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) for its peer-to-peer management. Both are internet standard protocols. It uses UDP instead of TCP because it gives users a faster, more robust experience. Using UDP, the application is able to more quickly switch channels and stream video with fewer interruptions and less stutter.

A few broadband providers restrict their UDP traffic more than they do their TCP traffic because they feel it makes them more secure, and UDP is not usually critical. The Joost software may therefore be able to connect and start up because that depends on TCP, but then fail as soon as a video is tried because of the need for UDP. If you repeatedly experience problems connecting, contact your provider and ask them about enabling UDP access.

Opening ports required by Joost: If you know that your ISP allows you to use UDP but still can't see any video, you'll need to check that your firewall or router is configured to allow access by Joost application. In particular, make sure that the following are enabled:

• TCP access, outbound, to ports 80, 443, 4166 and 5223.
• UDP access, in & outbound, to port 4166 and 33333.
• If you want to chat from within Joost, you'll also need to enable inbound TCP access to port 5223.

Check also that your network has DNS servers configured – Joost software makes regular DNS requests like any other application.

When I start Joost it immediately says "you got disconnected from the Joost network".

This is probably due to your firewall settings. You need to configure it to open the ports used by Joost. See I can't see any video! What do I do? for more details.

I get a "disk full" error

When the Joost software runs, it creates a cache on your hard drive that on occasions can become relatively large in size (up to 2GB). However, it shouldn't normally fill up your disk, unless it was almost full to start with. We are aware that there is a Joost bug which shows up Disk Full errors when the disk is not full and asks for more info about your computer. If this happens, check if your disk is really full and if it is, try to free up some disk space and if the problem persists, check the support forums.

Does Joost run on Windows Vista?

Yes. You will need an administrator password to install Joost, but running it as a normal user works.

Where should I report bugs?

It's much better to report bugs from within the Joost application if possible, because it will automatically send us technical and version information that's very useful for solving problems. See below for details of how to do this.

How do I report a bug?

There's a link in the Joost software to the bug report page in the menu – just press F1 and it's at the bottom.

If for some reason the application won't run at all, you can use the bug report form on the website directly.

If you are using the Windows Joost software, please send us a dxdiag summary – see the next question for details of this. If you have a directory named 'Joost' in the %APPDATA% directory, please include the file anthill.log in your email. Also, details of any anti-virus or firewall software you use are very helpful.

When submitting a bug report, how do I know my graphics hardware?

The Windows DirectX Diagnostic Tool is designed to help you troubleshoot DirectX-related issues, and includes a feature that will tell you what graphics hardware your computer has. To use the DirectX Diagnostic Tool:

1

Open run

Click Start, and then click Run.

2

Open dxdiag

In the Open box, type dxdiag, and then click OK.

3

Open display tab

Click on the Display tab to learn about your graphics Device.

4

Save information

You can export this information to a text file using Save All Information

5

Include information

Please include this text file when submitting a bug report – just cut and paste it from your text file into the report form.

How do I stop Joost from running when my computer starts up?

If you haven't installed Joost yet:

1

Disable autorun

You can deselect the Run Joost at Startup button at the end of the installation process.

If you've already installed Joost:

1

Remove from startup

Go to the Start Menu, choose All Programs and select the Startup item. Right-click on Joost and choose the Delete option.